On Our Radar

On Our Radar

Wal-Mart to Let Shoppers Swap Used Video Games for In-Store Value

Wal-Mart (WMT) will begin allowing video gamers to swap in used games and apply value immediately toward the purchase of anything sold at Walmart and Sam’s Club stores.

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The world’s largest retail chain will also begin offering pre-owned refurbished games at a discount, establishing a video game trade-in system that rivals those offered by GameStop (GME), Best Buy (BBY) and Target (TGT).

“Gaming continues to be an important business for us and we’re actively taking aim at the $2 billion pre-owned video game opportunity," said Duncan Mac Naughton, chief merchandising and marketing officer for Wal-Mart U.S. "When we disrupt markets and compete, our customer wins.”

Wal-Mart estimates a gaming market of more than 110 million people across the U.S. who might be interested in swapping in old games with original packaging from popular consuls such as Sony PlayStation 3 (SNE) and Microsoft Xbox 360 (MSFT).

The program will begin on March 26 at its 3,100 nationwide stores.

Shares of Wal-Mart were trading flat at around $74.71 in recent trade, while those of GameStop fell close to 5% to $37.83 in recent trade. Those of Best Buy and Target edged narrowly into the green.